Author Archives: theamericanplutarch

Reflections on Psalm 40 Waiting I waited for the Lord . . . Waiting. Everyone is waiting. The whole world is in expectation. Such is the way of time, that each moment passes and a new one is coming, and … Continue reading →

Montaigne’s essay, Of Prayers, reveals that Montaigne was filled with piety. He was a conservative Catholic who believed that God existed and ordered reality. But Montaigne’s god is a distant god, an inscrutable god whose wisdom and knowledge is so … Continue reading →

  The Storyteller, by Mario Vargas Llosas, is a complex book that interweaves two different narratives, one by a writer, one by a storyteller; the book explores the people of the Amazon rain forest in eastern Peru from the 1950s … Continue reading →

The Old Testament Psalms are constant reminders of how easily humans forget divine blessings and have to be reminded by daily prayer. The Psalms have been human prayer companions for centuries. The Psalms are some of the greatest literature ever … Continue reading →

First, disclaimers: much of the stuff about virtual reality and gaming is gibberish to me. I am not interested, and I don’t play games or engage in virtual reality (at least the sophisticated forms). At the same time, I am … Continue reading →

The idea of democracy, like the idea of capitalism, promises much, though the reality always falls short. The promise is of wide participation in government, free and open competition among diverse groups, self-determination. Democracy offers the vision of individuals working … Continue reading →

I published a book about John Smith several years ago entitled The Sea Mark. Smith himself wrote a poem of that name. Inspired by Smith, here is my version of the Seamark. Seamark I have searched, the pages of history To … Continue reading →